Datto Bcdr

Datto BCDR - Printing Press CLI

Prerequisites: Install the CLI

This skill drives the datto-bcdr-cli binary. You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill. If it is missing, install it first:

1. macOS / Linux:

   bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/datto-bcdr/install.sh)
   

2. Windows (PowerShell):

   iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servosity/msp-skills/main/skills/datto-bcdr/install.ps1 | iex
   

3. Verify: datto-bcdr-cli --version
4. Ensure ~/.local/bin (macOS / Linux) or %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\msp-skills (Windows) is on $PATH.

The installer downloads the datto-bcdr-cli and datto-bcdr-mcp binaries into ~/.local/bin (macOS / Linux) or %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\msp-skills (Windows). It does not register the skill with your agent and writes no MCP client config - see mcp-install.md for that wire-up.

If --version reports "command not found" after install, the runtime cannot see the binary directory on $PATH. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.

The Datto BCDR API is strictly per-device - to check backup health you query one appliance at a time. This CLI syncs every device, agent, share, and alert into a local store, then runs fleet-wide local joins: screenshots --failed surfaces every silently-unbootable backup, client-risk ranks your clients by composite risk, and storage-runway tells you which appliance fills up first. All read-only, all agent-native with --json and --select.

When to Use This CLI

Use this CLI when an agent needs the fleet-wide view of a partner's Datto BCDR estate: proving backups are recoverable, triaging which clients are at risk, finding stale or unprotected machines, and planning storage capacity. It is the right tool whenever the question spans more than one appliance, because the Datto API itself only answers per-device.

When Not to Use This CLI

Do not activate this CLI for requests that require creating, updating, deleting, publishing, commenting, upvoting, inviting, ordering, sending messages, booking, purchasing, or changing remote state. This printed CLI exposes read-only commands for inspection, export, sync, and analysis.

Unique Capabilities

These capabilities aren't available in any other tool for this API.

Recovery Assurance

• screenshots - See every protected machine whose last backup-bootability screenshot failed, across your entire fleet, ranked by how long it's been failing and grouped by client.

  Reach for this first every morning - it surfaces silently-unbootable backups before a client ever needs to restore.

  datto-bcdr-cli screenshots --failed --stale-days 7 --json
  

• stale-backups - Find every agent whose last local snapshot or last offsite sync is older than a threshold, across all devices and clients at once.

  Use to check recovery-point freshness fleet-wide; catches a backup that quietly stopped taking points without firing an alert.

  datto-bcdr-cli stale-backups --local-days 1 --offsite-days 3 --json
  

• recoverability - One headline KPI: the percentage of fleet agents whose latest recovery point is both fresh and screenshot-verified bootable, with a breakdown of what drags it down.

  Reach for this when leadership asks whether backups are actually recoverable - one defensible number instead of a device-by-device tour.

  datto-bcdr-cli recoverability --json
  

Fleet Health

• client-risk - Per-client risk scorecard that rolls up screenshot failures, stale backups, open alerts, storage pressure, and warranty status into one ranked list of which clients are most at risk.

  Reach for this when someone asks which clients are at risk - it answers the exact business question the per-device portal cannot.

  datto-bcdr-cli client-risk --top 10 --json
  

• alert-triage - Every open alert across the whole fleet in one ranked view, grouped by client and device, instead of pulling alerts one appliance at a time.

  Use for morning alert triage - the whole fleet's open alerts ranked by client without walking the device list.

  datto-bcdr-cli alert-triage --group-by client --json
  

• storage-runway - Rank every appliance by remaining local and offsite storage and flag the devices and clients closest to running out of capacity.

  Use when planning capacity or answering what's our storage runway - surfaces the appliance that fills up before anyone notices.

  datto-bcdr-cli storage-runway --threshold-pct 85 --json
  

Coverage Gaps

• forgotten-assets - List agents that are paused or archived and devices that haven't checked in recently, across the whole fleet, so silently-unprotected machines and dead appliances get caught.

  Reach for this to catch protection someone paused temporarily months ago, or an appliance that quietly went dark - gaps that never generate an alert.

  datto-bcdr-cli forgotten-assets --offline-days 2 --json
  

• agent-versions - Audit agent software versions across the entire fleet and flag every machine running an outdated agent, grouped by client and device.

  Use during patch/maintenance planning or when an agent vulnerability is announced, to find every exposed install in one shot.

  datto-bcdr-cli agent-versions --outdated --json
  

Client Reporting

• client-report - One QBR-ready health report for a single client: devices, agents, screenshot pass rate, stale backups, and open alerts in one bundled view.

  Use when preparing a QBR or answering one client's are-we-protected question - the full single-client story in one command.

  datto-bcdr-cli client-report "Acme Corp" --json
  

Command Reference

agent - Protected agents (machines) across the fleet or on one device

• datto-bcdr-cli agent by-device - List protected agents on a specific device
• datto-bcdr-cli agent list - List every protected agent across all devices

alert - Open alerts raised by a device

• datto-bcdr-cli alert <serialNumber> - List open alerts for a device

asset - All assets (agents and shares) on a device, plus single-volume detail

• datto-bcdr-cli asset get - Get a single asset by its volume name
• datto-bcdr-cli asset list - List all assets (agents + shares) on a device

device - Datto BCDR appliances (SIRIS / ALTO / NAS / Backup-for-Azure)

• datto-bcdr-cli device get - Get a single BCDR device by serial number
• datto-bcdr-cli device list - List all BCDR devices in the partner account

shares - Network shares protected on a device

• datto-bcdr-cli shares <serialNumber> - List protected shares on a device

vm-restore - Virtualization / VM restore sessions on a device

• datto-bcdr-cli vm-restore <serialNumber> - List VM restore sessions on a device

Freshness Contract

This printed CLI owns bounded freshness only for registered store-backed read command paths. In --data-source auto mode, those paths check sync_state and may run a bounded refresh before reading local data. --data-source local never refreshes. --data-source live reads the API and does not mutate the local store. Set DATTO_BCDR_NO_AUTO_REFRESH=1 to skip the freshness hook without changing source selection.

Covered paths:

• datto-bcdr-cli agent
• datto-bcdr-cli agent by-device
• datto-bcdr-cli agent list
• datto-bcdr-cli device
• datto-bcdr-cli device get
• datto-bcdr-cli device list

When JSON output uses the generated provenance envelope, freshness metadata appears at meta.freshness. Treat it as current-cache freshness for the covered command path, not a guarantee of complete historical backfill or API-specific enrichment.

Finding the right command

When you know what you want to do but not which command does it, ask the CLI directly:

datto-bcdr-cli which "<capability in your own words>"

which resolves a natural-language capability query to the best matching command from this CLI's curated feature index. Exit code 0 means at least one match; exit code 2 means no confident match - fall back to --help or use a narrower query.

Recipes

Morning recovery-assurance sweep

datto-bcdr-cli screenshots --failed --stale-days 7 --agent

Lists every agent whose bootability screenshot has been failing 7+ days, in agent-native output.

Narrowed fleet export for a report

datto-bcdr-cli agent list --agent --select agentName,os,lastScreenshotAttemptStatus,lastSnapshot

Pulls just the columns a recoverability report needs, skipping the verbose payload.

Client-by-client risk briefing

datto-bcdr-cli client-risk --top 10 --json

Ranked per-client risk scorecard ready to pipe into a status update.

Capacity planning

datto-bcdr-cli storage-runway --threshold-pct 85 --json

Flags every appliance over 85% on local or offsite storage.

Fleet recoverability KPI

datto-bcdr-cli recoverability --json

One defensible number - the % of agents whose latest recovery point is fresh AND screenshot-verified bootable - for the morning report or leadership ask.

Fleet-wide alert triage

datto-bcdr-cli alert-triage --group-by client --json

All open alerts across every appliance grouped by client, replacing a per-serial walk of the device list.

Auth Setup

Datto BCDR uses HTTP Basic auth with a partner-generated key pair. Generate a public/secret key in the Datto Partner Portal under Admin > Integrations, then export DATTO_BCDR_PUBLIC_KEY and DATTO_BCDR_SECRET_KEY. The CLI base64-encodes public:secret into the Authorization header on every request.

Run datto-bcdr-cli doctor to verify setup.

Agent Mode

Add --agent to any command. Expands to: --json --compact --no-input --no-color --yes.

• Pipeable - JSON on stdout, errors on stderr

• Filterable - --select keeps a subset of fields. Dotted paths descend into nested structures; arrays traverse element-wise. Critical for keeping context small on verbose APIs:

  datto-bcdr-cli agent list --agent --select id,name,status
  

• Previewable - --dry-run shows the request without sending

• Offline-friendly - sync/search commands can use the local SQLite store when available

• Non-interactive - never prompts, every input is a flag

• Read-only - do not use this CLI for create, update, delete, publish, comment, upvote, invite, order, send, or other mutating requests

Response envelope

Commands that read from the local store or the API wrap output in a provenance envelope:

{
  "meta": {"source": "live" | "local", "synced_at": "...", "reason": "..."},
  "results": <data>
}

Parse .results for data and .meta.source to know whether it's live or local. A human-readable N results (live) summary is printed to stderr only when stdout is a terminal AND no machine-format flag (--json, --csv, --compact, --quiet, --plain, --select) is set - piped/agent consumers and explicit-format runs get pure JSON on stdout.

Agent Feedback

When you (or the agent) notice something off about this CLI, record it:

datto-bcdr-cli feedback "the --since flag is inclusive but docs say exclusive"
datto-bcdr-cli feedback --stdin < notes.txt
datto-bcdr-cli feedback list --json --limit 10

Entries are stored locally at ~/.local/share/datto-bcdr-cli/feedback.jsonl. They are never POSTed unless DATTO_BCDR_FEEDBACK_ENDPOINT is set AND either --send is passed or DATTO_BCDR_FEEDBACK_AUTO_SEND=true. Default behavior is local-only.

Write what surprised you, not a bug report. Short, specific, one line: that is the part that compounds.

Output Delivery

Every command accepts --deliver <sink>. The output goes to the named sink in addition to (or instead of) stdout, so agents can route command results without hand-piping. Three sinks are supported:

Unknown schemes are refused with a structured error naming the supported set. Webhook failures return non-zero and log the URL + HTTP status on stderr.

Named Profiles

A profile is a saved set of flag values, reused across invocations. Use it when a scheduled agent calls the same command every run with the same configuration - HeyGen's "Beacon" pattern.

datto-bcdr-cli profile save briefing --json
datto-bcdr-cli --profile briefing agent list
datto-bcdr-cli profile list --json
datto-bcdr-cli profile show briefing
datto-bcdr-cli profile delete briefing --yes

Explicit flags always win over profile values; profile values win over defaults. agent-context lists all available profiles under available_profiles so introspecting agents discover them at runtime.

Exit Codes

Argument Parsing

Parse $ARGUMENTS:

1. Empty, help, or --help → show datto-bcdr-cli --help output
2. Starts with install → ends with mcp → MCP installation; otherwise → see Prerequisites above
3. Anything else → Direct Use (execute as CLI command with --agent)

MCP Server Installation

1. Install the MCP binary (run the install script from the Prerequisites section, or see mcp-install.md for per-agent wire-up).
2. Register with Claude Code:

   claude mcp add datto-bcdr-mcp -- datto-bcdr-mcp
   

3. Verify: claude mcp list

Direct Use

1. Check if installed: which datto-bcdr-cli If not found, offer to install (see Prerequisites at the top of this skill).
2. Match the user query to the best command from the Unique Capabilities and Command Reference above.
3. Execute with the --agent flag:

   datto-bcdr-cli <command> [subcommand] [args] --agent
   

4. If ambiguous, drill into subcommand help: datto-bcdr-cli <command> --help.